The City of Atlanta’s claims procedure resulted in a loss for some seeking reimbursement. Nonetheless, the city council voted in favor of over $4 million in bodily injury and personal property damage settlements this year.
The city council holds a full council meeting approximately twice a month. Their meeting minutes detail claims against the city, how the city council voted on each claim and the settlement amounts.
Quinton Washington, a civil litigation attorney and former judge, said that a successful settlement sometimes depends on adhering to procedures the city has established.
“If you don’t comply with the checklist, your claim can be denied,” Washington said. “And so, that means that the first thing you have to do is see how to file and appropriately file what’s called ante litem notice.”
Ante litem, which is a Latin term meaning before litigation, is the notice the City of Atlanta requires that a person or entity file before proceeding with a lawsuit.
Washington said that most large cities have sovereign immunity, and the ante litem process allows them to waive their immunity in some cases.
“Cities can’t necessarily be sued for or don’t have to be responsible for certain things because of the immunity that they have,” Washington said. “And so, to be able to get them to waive it, that’s where the whole ante litem process comes into place.”
In response to an open records request, the City of Atlanta Department of Law identified 169 ante litem notices in their possession in which settlements had received Atlanta City Council approval. These settlements were approved between Jan. 1, 2023, and Nov. 27, 2023.
Personal Experiences
City infrastructure allegedly caused damage to the vehicles of Georgia residents Ernest Duncan and Jerry Baker. They had different outcomes after filing claims.
Duncan said he filed a claim because his vehicle was damaged after running over a large hole in the road.
“A set of large steel plates covering some roadwork the city was repairing moved during an evening rainstorm, Duncan said. “I didn’t see the large hole in the road and busted two of my tires going over that section of the road.”
Throughout the claim process, Duncan faced several challenges including delayed communication and a lack of clarity on who was responsible for maintaining the road.
“Once I completed the paperwork and submitted my claim, I didn’t hear back from anyone for several months,” Duncan said. “Months went by, and I reached out to the agency to learn that the employee assigned to my claim no longer worked for the city.”
Duncan said he abandoned his efforts to recoup the cost of repairs to his vehicle when the city denied his claim.
“I emailed the city every two weeks to determine the status of my claim. Approximately 18 months later, I was told that the road was maintained by the state, and I would need to file a claim with the state,” Duncan said. “After several months of trying to make contact with the state, I gave up on my attempt to get reimbursed.”
Duncan said he was disappointed in the way his claim was handled and the delays he encountered in receiving updates from the city.
Baker said a gap in the pavement that spanned across all lanes left his car inoperable after he ran over it.
“I pulled out of the roadway as much as possible and returned to the hole in the street. I took pictures of the cutout in the road and the absence of signage warning of roadwork,” Baker said. “I returned to my vehicle and noticed that my wheel was bent.”
Baker said his claim process began with reporting the issue to the Atlanta Department of Transportation. He was contacted by a representative who pointed him toward the company which had neglected to cover the cutout.
“I asked to have my claim escalated, and the next day I received an apology and was told that my claim would be approved,” Baker said. “The following week, I was sent a paper check in the mail.”
Room for change
Dustin Hillis, an Atlanta City Council board member and chair of the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee, did not respond to a request for an interview.
However, despite having his claim approved, Baker said the city should work to effectively communicate with its citizens and introduce methods to streamline the claim process.
“The city department that handles these types of claims should immediately take responsibility and not pass blame,” Baker said. “The claim process could be improved with a direct wire transfer of funds to lessen the inconvenience of dealing with a paper check.”
Duncan said he wants the city to make it easier for people to obtain claim status.
“More automation into the claim process would be helpful so that I could track the progress of my claim,” Duncan said.
Washington said that there should be clear communication regarding the complexity of the claims process for citizens who plan to represent themselves or file a claim directly with the city.
“The greater communication that can be given and the greater education that can be given to the citizens who are in that situation, I think, would be helpful for everybody,” Washington said.
Washington said the claim process may seem difficult to navigate due to misunderstandings or incorrectly submitted information.
“Just recognize that it may be an adversarial system, but it does not have to be adversarial,” Washington said. “I think a huge part of the adversarial nature comes from people who don’t have an understanding of the checks and balances the city has internally before they get to the point of resolving something, especially if it involves writing a check.”